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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25269397">Like a Wayward Aro</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattie24601/pseuds/mattie24601'>mattie24601</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aromantic Rosa Diaz, Ax probably has ADHD, Bisexual Rosa Diaz, Genderqueer Character, One-Shot Series, Other, Queerplatonic Relationships, and they are very good at projecting onto their characters, because the author probably does, it just takes them some time to label it, they're in a qpr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:49:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,492</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25269397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattie24601/pseuds/mattie24601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots about Rosa and Ax from my other fic <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24380545">Everything Makes Sense (Except Me)</a></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rosa Diaz/Original Character(s), queerplatonic - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I really wanted to write more about aromantic Rosa, so at first I wanted to write a full story and quickly abandoned that idea because I'm terrible at finishing projects. So I decided to write little snippets of their life together I have a few ideas already but feel free to leave comments with other ideas that you have.</p>
<p>Title comes from Always by Francois Klark (also where Ax's last name comes from) the line is actually "like a wayward arrow" but this seemed fitting</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rosa meets Ax at a queer bar. They have pronoun stickers in various pride flags, but there isn’t an aromantic flag so she grabs the one with a bi flag. Ax is behind the bar, their name pin has the genderqueer flag clearly on one side, but Rosa can make out an aromantic flag, obviously colored on, on the other.</p><p><i>At least this place is inclusive,</i> Rosa thinks as she makes her way over to sit at the bar. Sadly the same can’t be said of most of the queer spaces she goes to. She usually just says she’s bi and leaves it at that, having had many failed previous relationships because she’s aromantic. Any place that doesn’t clearly state that they are inclusive of aro and ace people she stays closeted in out of fear of harrasement.</p><p>She orders her drink, whiskey, from them. They’re cute and strike up conversation with her whenever they’re not serving drinks, which granted isn’t very often as it’s Saturday night and this is Brooklyn but it’s something. Plus the drawn on flag means that they’re very likely not looking for anything more than a night.</p><p>She’s not paying attention this time when they come over, “You haven’t asked me a single question about the flag on my pin, which I’m guessing means that either you understand, or you don’t care.”</p><p>“Why would I care what your gender identity is?” She knows that’s not the question they were asking but it’s easier than acknowledging what they were.</p><p>“Given you’re deflecting I’m going to guess that you understand, no pressure but I’m off in ten if you want to come back to my place.”</p><p>Fifteen minutes later the two of them are walking back to Ax’s apartment. They only live a block away, and while it might not be the best neighborhood they still think it would be stupid to drive to work. As soon as the door to their apartment is closed they’ve pinned Rosa to it. Her hands explore every inch of their body before settling on their lower back. </p><p>Ax has moved their hands under Rosa’s shirt, despite both of them knowing what the invite means they still ask, “is this okay?”</p><p>“Yes, yes, please,” she says as Ax pulls off her shirt. She’s normally used to being the one in charge but it’s actually kind of nice letting some else call the shots for once. Eventually they make it into Ax’s bedroom. By morning the two of them have marked each other up, and Rosa really hopes most of them are in places she can easily hide.</p><p>Rosa almost leaves before they’re up the next morning, but then she remembers their pin. Even just finding someone else who might get her makes her want to see where a friendship with them could go. She finds a piece of paper and writes out a note to Ax.</p><p>
  <i><strike>This was fun</strike> I don’t usually do this<br/>
I’d like to hang out sometime<br/>
just to talk to someone who gets me<br/>
-Rosa (718) 555-8201</i>
</p><p>She does end up leaving before they’re awake but the text she gets that afternoon makes her smile. It’s weird, there aren’t many people that make her genuinely happy, aside from her squad. She’s pretty sure the last person that did was Alicia, but that crashed and burned and she really doesn’t understand why.</p><p>A few days later they get coffee after Rosa’s shift. They’ve been texting but they’re basically living on opposite schedules. But even if they can only see each other a few times at least she knows they’re someone who won’t leave because she’s aro. They might still leave for other reasons but that’s a thought for another time.</p><p>Ax is already there when Rosa finally makes her way over. They’re sitting at a relatively tall table off to the side with a drink in front of them. Rosa orders a decaf coffee and then goes to sit with them.</p><p>Rosa’s not sure how to start the conversation. Texting is different, she has time to think of what she wants to say, and how she wants to say it. For a little bit they just look at each other, neither knowing how to start this conversation. That is until Rosa’s order is ready, she always gives a fake name, she rents her apartments under the name Emily Goldfinch and she orders food under the name Grace Johnson, not that the surname really matters all that much. So when she returns to the table with a cup that says Grace on it Ax is understandably confused.</p><p>“I’m not great at interacting with people, I find it easier if I have a part to play,” maybe starting off with that wasn’t the best idea but even with different aliases it’s easier to be honest, and she really does like Ax.</p><p>“So who have I been talking to for the past week?”</p><p>“I know you probably won’t believe that that’s who I really am, but it is. My name is Rosa Diaz, I am a 35 year old police detective and I am bisexual aromantic.” It’s the longest thing she’s ever spoken to them. It’s also only the second time she’s told anyone that she identifies as aromantic.</p><p>They look at her for a long second before responding, “My name is Ax Klark, I am a 36 year old bartender and I am queer, genderqueer, and aromantic.”</p><p>“How long have you known?” Rosa asks, and then amends, “any of it.”</p><p>“I’ll tell you a little bit about me if you tell me a bit about you, the real you,” Rosa nods so they continue. “Ever since I was probably twelve or thirteen I remember not completely feeling like everyone else. All my friends were starting to go through puberty and I remember wishing that my body would just stop changing. Genderqueer is usually the label that I use when asked but I don’t really label my gender because to me it doesn’t really exist. I’m just Ax.”</p><p>“When I was in middle school I would watch <i>Saved by the Bell</i> reruns after school.” Rosa stops, she told her friends the abridged version of this story, but no one knows the full version. “When everyone was having the Zach or Slater debates I thought that Lisa was way hotter than either of them. Most of my friends only wanted to talk about boys though so I never said anything. It wasn’t until high school that I met someone else who was queer.”</p><p>Ax is quiet a little longer, waiting to see if she has more to add, when Rosa doesn’t continue talking they start, “My sexuality is a little bit like my gender, I don’t label it, if we’re both consenting adults and I’m attracted to you, that’s that. I was really lucky to grow up in a place that was very accepting so there was never really a time in my life when it seemed weird that I wasn’t straight.”</p><p>Rosa takes a drink from her coffee as a way to give her more time to collect her thoughts, she’s never explained this to someone before. “I had a lot of failed relationships. When I came out as bi two years ago one of my co-workers sent out an email with a bunch of different queer identities defined and aromantic was one of them. It sounded like me but I didn’t want to believe it so I ignored it. About a year ago after my last girlfriend broke up with me because she wanted feelings and romance I finally accepted it.”</p><p>“I dated on and off throughout high school and a few years after. I couldn’t figure out what was going wrong, I knew that I was unhappy but I didn’t know why. Eventually I was talking with some of my friends about it, one of them is ace, and she later sent me info about aromanticism. And something just clicked, and then I freaked out about it and called my best friend in tears.”</p><p>Rosa knows that it’s her turn to share but she’s not really sure what she should talk about. Eventually she settles on her friends, “I met one of my best friends in the police academy. I’ve been a detective for about five years, most of my friends are people on the squad. They know a lot about the real me, when my parents weren’t talking to me because I came out, they all came over once a week to do a board game night. And I think that’s as much personal talk as I can handle right now.”</p><p>The two of them switched to lighter topics, even though talking about Arlo is technically a personal topic it’s a lot easier to talk about her dog than her past. Eventually several hours have passed and Ax has to get to work. Rosa tells them that they’ll come by the bar this weekend during their shift.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is going to updated sporadically but I currently have a lot of motivation to write so hopefully the next few chapters will be out in the next month or so. I've taken some parts of my own identity and how I've come to identify that way and put them in Ax's story.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. You're In My Apartment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rosa invites Ax over for the first time</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Surprisingly fast turnaround for this chapter, I hope you all don't feel like I'm writing Rosa too out of character.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>About two months later they’ve slept together several more times, usually when Rosa goes to visit Ax at the bar. Rosa’s even spent the morning after at their place, and sometimes that turns into the whole day after. She’s still not comfortable enough to bring them back to her apartment though. She’s getting there though, next week she has a day off and since Ax doesn’t work during the day they could hang out at her apartment with Arlo. </p><p>
  <i>To: Ax<br/>
I think I’m finally ready to have someone over (and not move the next day) would you want to come over next Friday?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>To: Rosa🌹<br/>
sounds good, do i finally get to meet Arlo</i>
</p><p>
  <i></i>
</p><p>
  <i></i>
</p><p><i>To: Ax<br/>
Yes, he’s very excited to meet you.</i><br/>
</p><p>
  <i>To: Rosa🌹<br/>
aww, i’ll see you on friday then</i>
</p><p>It’s currently Wednesday so she has just over a week to prepare. Well mentally prepare, her apartment usually stays pretty clean, even with a dog.</p><p>The following Thursday Rosa almost cancels several times. But she wants them to come over, she spends most of the day using work as a distraction, paperwork that she normally hates for the monotony she is now grateful for. She kind of feels bad for her coworkers, she has a shorter fuse than normal today. Charles, being her deskmate, takes the brunt of it. Her frustration starts when an email won’t load and doesn’t really end until she makes it back home to Arlo. It’s hard to be angry when there’s a dog that just wants affection.</p><p>Ax texts Rosa during their break at work, it’s not about tomorrow which she’s thankful for. She’s sure that Ax knows how nervous she is and is trying to distract her for a little bit. And it works until they have to go back to their shift. It’s pretty late so she watches an episode of whatever show she’s currently watching before going to bed.</p><p>Ever since she came back from prison she’s let Arlo sleep with her. He likes sleeping on her lower legs and feet and he’s a good grounding reminder that she’s home. She hasn’t told Ax yet about that part of her past, she’s worried it will scare them off. But the fact that they haven’t already run off even after hearing about her aliases bodes well.</p><p>The next morning she wakes up and she’s actually less nervous than she thought she would be. They’re not coming over until noon so Rosa looks through what she has in her fridge and pantry for what to make for lunch.</p><p>
  <i>To: Ax<br/>
I want to make lunch, you’re not allergic to anything right?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>To: Rosa🌹<br/>
no, no allergies, but i really dont like onions</i>
</p><p>
  <i>To: Ax<br/>
Got it, no onions.</i>
</p><p>She doesn’t have any onions anyway so it doesn’t change her plan. There’s some tortellini in her freezer, and she grows basil near the window so she decides to make some pesto. Most of the entry to her apartment looks like Emily Goldfinch lives there, more colorful, plants around the room, but behind closed doors it’s a little bit more her. Although she does have a few plants that she keeps in her bedroom, up high where Arlo can’t get to them.</p><p>Now that she knows what she wants to make she settles back on the couch with Arlo and listens to music on the old record player she got at a garage sale one weekend. She doesn’t have many records but she really likes the ones she does. Most of the time when she has time to herself this is what she does, she’ll sit on her couch, with Arlo near her feet, sometimes she’ll sharpen her ax, but right now she’s content to read her most recent action novel.</p><p>A little before Ax is supposed to arrive at her apartment she gets up to make the pesto, she figures getting as much ready beforehand is better than trying to do everything while they’re there. While Arlo is a pretty good dog for the most part he definitely loves trying to get any sort of food that falls on the floor. As much as she loves his company she really doesn’t like the fact that he gets so underfoot, she’s stepped on, and accidentally kicked him more times than she can count while cooking in the past and she’s certain that it will continue in the future.</p><p>When Ax arrives, Rosa’s very grateful for the fact that Arlo doesn’t bark when there’s a knock on the door. Rosa makes Arlo sit by the door before she opens it, even though he doesn’t bark he’s still very excited to meet new people.</p><p>“Hi, Arlo, I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ax says as they bend down to pet his wriggling body. They walk fully into her apartment and hug Rosa, something else that’s been happening more recently. Ax holds Rosa for an extra moment to tell her, “thank you for inviting me over.”</p><p>Rosa wants to tell them that it’s no big deal but she knows they wouldn’t believe her for a second, so she just brings them further into her apartment and shows them the kitchen. She lives in New York so her kitchen isn’t very big, definitely not big enough for a table. It’s mostly just a place for cooking, she has a stove, a counter top, a fridge, and a short wall that separates it from the rest of the room and that’s pretty much it. She shoos Arlo back out before showing Ax her living room area. They’re immediately drawn to the record player and start looking through the box of vinyl that she has next to it.</p><p>They pull one out, “do you mind if I play this one?” It’s an old Fleetwood Mac album. “I used to listen to this all the time when I was in high school.” They hand it over to her to put in on before moving to sit in the corner of the couch near the player. Once it’s started she sits next to them and they put their arm around her. She’s getting more used to casual intimacy, and it scares her a little how normal it feels and she doesn’t want to push them away. The two of them talk about how their weeks went, until Arlo has decided that he’s not getting enough attention and worms his way between them. </p><p>Rosa uses that as an excuse to get up and start working on lunch, it’s almost one so it’s a good time anyway. Despite the fact that it’s a wall not a peninsula she still keeps two stools there. Sometimes she likes to eat at the counter, and right now she’s grateful for it because Ax follows her over and sits on a stool to watch her cook. She grabs the package of pasta out of the freezer and starts a pot of water. While she waits for the water to boil she goes to sit down next to Ax. They don’t talk but the silence doesn’t feel uncomfortable, Rosa pets Arlo as he sits next to her. When she gets up he follows her into the kitchen. By the time she’s done Arlo has moved back to sit with Ax, attention, he’s decided, is better than potential food that might fall on the floor. Rosa brings bowls of pesto tortellini, topped with parmesan, over to the counter.</p><p>“Arlo, cama,” Rosa sends him to his bed, despite the small size of her kitchen she doesn’t mind when he’s in the kitchen, but while she’s eating he’s a lot more incessant so he’s banished to his bed. Ax looks up when she speaks in Spanish, “I grew up in a Spanish speaking household so when I’m by myself I tend to speak Spanish before English.”</p><p>They eat in silence, occasionally bumping arms. Rosa takes the bowls once they’re done and starts washing them, “I have a collection of movies if you want to go through and see if there’s anything you want to watch, it’s next to the TV.” Most of the movies she owns are Nancy Meyers movies so she’s not surprised to see what movie they’ve picked when she’s done washing the dishes. They’ve decided on The Intern, one of the newer movies she owns.</p><p>Based on the fact that the previews have started playing Rosa assumes that Ax found her DVD player. Not that it’s hidden or anything, although the remote is harder to find. She pulls the basket out from under the couch to get the correct remote. Ax is back in their spot from earlier and Rosa tentatively leans into them where they put their arm around her again. They sit like that through several more movies until Ax has to go to work, and despite the fact that they’ve spent almost six hours together Rosa kind of wants to go with them. But she doesn’t, she shows them out, saying she’ll see them next week.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm not going to always write chapters this fast but I hope you guys enjoy them now while they are.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. This is a Conversation We Need to Have</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ax spends the night at Rosa's for the first time and they go out to breakfast the next morning. Also, a reflection into their relationship.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello, I'm back. I'm projecting my own probable ADHD onto Ax and also I miss my own qpr partner because I have only seen her in person twice since quarantine started.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After that day Ax and Rosa started spending more time split between apartments. Ax still hadn’t spent the night, but there were days they left so late that Rosa felt weird walking them out.</p>
<p>Finally one night it was just too ridiculous, it’s almost one in the morning and Ax is heading to the door. Rosa goes over to them, “do you want to stay the night?”</p>
<p>Ax looks at her for a second, then looks down at Arlo and whispers, “I finally did it,” and follows Rosa to her room when she starts to leave them at the door. “Thank you,” they tell her, she’s just tossed a pair of pj pants and a tank top at them, but from the look on her face they know that she knows what they’re actually thanking her for. They walk down the hall to the bathroom to change and when they get back Rosa is also in pajamas.</p><hr/>
<p>Rosa’s sitting on the bed petting Arlo, waiting for Ax to get back from the bathroom. She doesn’t understand why this is so nerve wracking, she’s slept over at Ax’s place more times than she can count. Petting Arlo is a good way to ease her nerves though, and he loves it because he loves attention almost more than anything else, food scraps are the only thing that top it. Ax knocks on the door frame alerting her to their presence, she jumps a little at the sound, not that she’d ever admit it, but she’s been more wary of people sneaking up on her since prison. She still keeps all her knives near her, but she really doesn’t want to hurt Ax and stabbing them would be a really good way to end their friendship, there’s no way that she would ever call it anything else but friendship seems like the wrong word.</p>
<p>Ax moves to sit down next to Rosa on the bed. Rosa doesn’t know why it’s so awkward, they’ve done this so many times at Ax’s apartment. She calls Arlo up and he lays across both of them. Ax laughs and reaches over to pet his head that’s laying in Rosa’s lap.</p>
<p>Rosa goes to her spot on the bed, after moving Arlo off her lap and telling him to go lay down in his spot at the foot. </p>
<p>Ax crawls up after her and faces Rosa, “I want to say thank you again. I know how difficult this is for you, letting people in.”</p>
<p>Rosa feels her face heat up a little bit, she leans over to kiss them, ignoring what they said. That’s her go to, ignore or deflect anything that makes her uncomfortable. Ax scoots closer to her and lays their arm over Rosa’s waist.</p>
<p>Rosa hears Ax’s breathing even out, she’s used to sleeping in the same bed as them, but this is her bed, she hasn’t had someone sleep in her bed since Alicia moved away almost two years ago. Eventually she settles against them and falls asleep with Arlo on her feet.</p><hr/>
<p>Ax wakes up earlier than Rosa. It’s odd, usually Rosa is awake first, they know because she doesn’t like staying in bed, likely not wanting to wake them up. The first morning that Rosa actually stayed and was still there in the morning they didn’t know until they found her on their couch reading a book from their bookshelf. They contemplate getting up but they’re very comfortable and warm, and it is the middle of winter in New York.</p>
<p>About fifteen minutes later Rosa is awake and when Arlo realizes this he worms his way between them, hoping to get pets and belly rubs now that the humans are awake. Rosa obliges him for a minute before sending him back down. Ax pulls Rosa closer to them, this is really the only place they’ve seen Rosa be even a little bit vulnerable. She relaxes against them, letting her head rest against their chest. They run their fingers through her hair as they talk about the fact that they should probably get up. Finally they get up when Arlo gets up and brings his leash over to Rosa.</p>
<p>Rosa gets dressed and offers Ax a change of clothes so they don’t have to go on a neighborhood walk in pjs. Her pants don’t fit so they just put on their pants from yesterday, but one of Rosa’s hoodies fits fine, so the hoodie plus a borrowed shirt make for good protection from the cold.</p>
<p>Rosa smiles and says hi to everyone they pass on the way down, it always weirds Ax out, how friendly she is with the people in her building, and how different it is from how she is with them.</p>
<p>What starts off as a regular morning walk for Arlo turns into finding a cafe for breakfast, with a patio of course. Ax goes in to get a menu and a water bowl for Arlo, it’s late morning on a Saturday, in a tiny cafe that most people have never heard of, so it’s relatively busy but not so much that they can’t find a place to sit. Rosa types her order into Ax’s phone so they can put it in. When they come back out they move their chair next to Rosa’s and lays their head on her shoulder. Rosa carefully threads her fingers with Ax’s while still keeping a hand on Arlo’s leash, once the food comes out she’ll tie it to her chair leg. She’s still getting used to casual acts of intimacy, Ax is a very tactile person and pretty much always finds a reason to have contact with her.</p>
<p>While they sit there, in a little Brooklyn cafe, Rosa thinks about the past four months. Rosa’s always been so terrified of letting people in, but Ax is someone who actually gets her, and doesn’t want a relationship from her, which isn’t something she can say about most of the people she’s had sex with. That thought gets her down another path though, they’ve never had a conversation about exclusivity, hell she’d even had an occasional one night partner but not in the past couple months, now that she’s thinking about it. It’s probably a conversation that they need to have sooner rather than later because she thinks she’s experiencing something that she refuses to acknowledge as jealousy.</p>
<p>“You’re thinking very loudly,” Ax comments, not removing their head from her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Just thinking about the past few months,” Rosa gently turns which knocks Ax’s head off and they look mildly disgruntled about it, “Since we’ve met,” she clarifies.</p>
<p>“Would you believe that you are the first other aromantic person I’ve met in person.”</p>
<p>“It wouldn’t be that shocking, there aren’t exactly many of us.” They stop talking briefly when their food comes out and Rosa untangles their hands to tie Arlo’s leash to her chair while they eat.</p>
<p>They thank the server and pick their conversation back up. “What about you, have you met any?”</p>
<p>“None that I know of. But I’m also not very open about it, most people don’t understand.”</p><hr/>
<p>They spend the rest of the morning at Rosa’s apartment watching stupid dating shows.</p>
<p>Ax turns to Rosa as the credits roll after their current episode is finished. “Can we talk,” and that alone makes Rosa freeze long enough for the next episode to start playing.</p>
<p><i>This is it</i>, she thinks, <i>this is when they tell me that they’re not really aro and they want more than what I can give</i>. She feels horrible for thinking that because Ax really doesn’t seem like the type of person who would do something like that, but she has some trust issues in situations like this.</p>
<p>Ax must be able to see something on her face because they say, “Woah, hey, stop that internal spiral, it’s nothing bad.” They grab the remote and actually pause the show before pulling out their current stim toy. That doesn’t really make Rosa feel a whole lot better because they’re currently putting more attention on the toy than on her which she knows is a nervous habit they have. “I, um, found this, um, term, I guess.” They pull out their phone and show her the screen, the term “queerplatonic relationship” is displayed. Ax pointedly doesn’t make eye contact and focuses even more intently on their toy while Rosa reads their phone.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Rosa turns to face Ax “why did you show this to me?”</p>
<p>“I think that, maybe, that might be us,” they look up at her, a longer piece of their hair hiding most of their face still so they aren’t exactly making eye contact, but they’re trying.</p>
<p>“Really?” Ax gives a tiny nod. “Okay.” She doesn’t necessarily disagree with the term and if they think it’s accurate she’ll look into it.</p>
<p>“Okay.” Ax resumes the show they were watching and leans into Rosa while continuing with the stim toy absent mindedly. Not out of nerves anymore just because it’s already out and they’re more comfortable playing with the toy than with Rosa’s hand.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Everything Hurts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rosa and Ax's reaction to Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm really sad and scared right now. This doesn't really take place during this fic but this is the one I'm working on right now and I needed a place to process everything. This is just a little short chapter that'll stay at the end of the fic and I'll put the rest of the new chapters before this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>To: Rosa<br/>can i come over right now, i don’t want to be alone</i>
</p><p>
  <i>To: Ax<br/>Sure.</i>
</p><p>Rosa’s seen the news too. She knows how bad this is. Even Arlo knows that something isn’t right, he doesn’t even bark when Ax gets there. They go over to the couch and Ax just collapses against Rosa and starts crying.</p><p>“I’m so scared. I can’t even think about going to work right now.”</p><p>“Text your boss first. Then, we’ll cuddle on the couch and watch something.”</p><p>“As long as it’s not a Nancy Meyers movie,” Ax laughs tearfully. But they get out their phone to text their boss. Rosa sets up some Disney movie that Ax had left behind at some point, she’s watched it a few times with them and she knows it’s one of their favorites. Once she’s settled back onto the couch, Rosa pulls Ax into her side and they relax minimally.</p><p>Once the movie starts Ax hums and mumbles along to the songs for a little bit. Before the movie is even half over Ax has fallen asleep against her.</p><p>Rosa’s still trying to process everything. She doesn’t cry, on principle. But right now, she kind of wants to. She’s never been this worried for her wellbeing. If whatever replacement their joke of a president nominates actually gets confirmed she’d be truly terrified. Her only hope right now is that the election is less than 2 months away, but on the other hand the senate may still allow confirmations in the time between the election and the inauguration. And that’s only if the current president doesn’t get re-elected.</p><p>She leaves the movie on in the background and runs her hands through Ax’s hair. She gently wakes them up when the movie is over.</p><p>“Come on, we should go to bed, it’s much more comfortable.”</p><p>“Trust me, I know.” They pause for a second, “Thank you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm pretty bad at empathizing with people I think but if you just want to come talk I'm on tumblr @mattie24601</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Celebratory (Pronounced the British Way)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rosa and Ax celebrate a historic presidential victory.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am so excited about the most recent election results, there is still so much work to be done. Biden still needs to be held accountable for things he says and does but this election is a first step. This election result is thanks to Black women and all other BIPOC who voted and the best way to thank them is to listen to what they're saying and not speak over them.</p>
<p>As with the RBG chapter, this will stay at the end of the fic. Also, I don't have a timeline for this fic, this doesn't take place during covid times and only kind of follows the events of this fic.</p>
<p>This chapter references some things that I will continue to write about in the next in-fic-universe chapter, I'm still working on that.</p>
<p>This chapter is more from Ax's perspective so it's a little different but I hope you still enjoy it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ax has been watching the election map since Wednesday morning. They always knew there weren’t going to be any results Tuesday night anyway, which says a lot about the current state of affairs. After the last four years with that monster in the White House the election shouldn’t have been as close as it was, it shouldn’t have been close period.</p>
<p>The biggest thing keeping them going is the fact that so many trans and queer people had won their races, even in red states, meaning that people’s votes were getting through. And Rosa, the two of them have spent almost every night together this week, Ax has worked most nights, willingly trading shifts with people as a distraction before collapsing in bed with Rosa after some much needed stress relief.</p>
<p>They’ve been watching the map far too much to be healthy for them mentally and they know far too much about counties in states they don’t and have never and likely will never live in. But now it’s over, well the election, there’s still so much work to be done but for now they just want to celebrate this historic win with their girlfriend. It took a lot of communication but with people who know what their relationship is Rosa is okay with the term girlfriend, she just really doesn’t like it when people assume to know more than they do.</p>
<p>The two of them are out at breakfast when the news breaks, they don’t even really know what’s happened until they see a parade of people about a block away cheering and waving flags of all kinds. Ax pulls out their phone and sees the results and when they do they practically pull Rosa out of the restaurant, they pay for their food and run, well Ax runs, Rosa’s far too dignified for that, to the group and cheer with them. By the time Rosa has caught up to her partner they’re crying, out of happiness, out of relief, she can’t really tell but suspects it’s a little bit of both. Rosa pulls them in to kiss them, more public affection than she normally would show but she’s feeling the celebration. Somebody in the middle of the crowd has a megaphone and is shouting, but they’re too far away for it to be understandable. They stand together talking to the people around them until Ax starts to shut down.</p>
<p>By the time they get back to Rosa’s apartment Ax is ready for the whole day to be over and it’s only early afternoon, they’re beyond excited about what has happened but also, they’re so overwhelmed. They collapse onto Rosa’s couch, and Rosa, their favorite person, keeps Arlo from jumping on them, normally Arlo’s weight is wonderful but they can’t handle the texture of his fur when they’re like this so they just lay there for a minute before grabbing the noise-cancelling headphones their suddenly very glad they left them on the table there. They start playing music as something to focus on, they must fall asleep at some point because they wake up with a blanket covering them and Arlo across their legs. They look over and see Rosa in the kitchen, they gently nudge Arlo off their lap and walk over behind their girlfriend. They’re a little too short to comfortably rest their chin on her shoulder so they lean their forehead on her back. Ax is so glad that they aren’t working tonight, on top of the normal Saturday crowd there’s going to be the post-election celebrators and they don’t think they could handle that today. They wrap their arms around Rosa and just <i>be</i> with her while she cooks dinner.</p>
<p>Ax always feels better after sleeping and now they’re feeling really clingy. They appreciate that Rosa is comfortable enough with them to let them do things like this. After dinner they fully curl into Rosa while they watch a celebratory movie and drink champagne.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I did not go out and celebrate, mostly because of covid and I was at work when the news broke. Also I am very much missing my qp partner and I am very touch-starved so I'm projecting onto Ax and I would give anything to be able to hug her and cuddle with her.</p>
<p>This is a different fandom so I don't know how many of you are here from any of my other fics but in case you are, I'm still working on Tiny Dancer I've just hit a bit of a roadblock on where I want to go with it.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is going to updated sporadically but I currently have a lot of motivation to write so hopefully the next few chapters will be out in the next month or so. I've taken some parts of my own identity and how I've come to identify that way and put them in Ax's story.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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